a tale of red roses
by The Cinder Crown
Summary: Once the case was closed, Jack decides to talk to Gibbs about her little Valentine's gift - and perhaps to see where their 'thing' is going... :: or, my take on to what might happens after the 17x15 preview. (spoilers... obviously)
1. a tale of red roses I

_Sooo I just watched the preview clip for the latest episode 15 of season 17 - and I swear cbs is killing me with this perfectly written slibbs scene! *_* I'll probably have to wait another year the watch the entire episode here in Germany, but I couldn't resist to write my own ending to this! (I hope you like it... let me know what you think!)_

_disclaimer: nothing's mine... well, despite spelling and grammar mistakes... _

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**a tale of red roses**

* * *

Jack took a deep breath. One hand already on the doorknob, she thought about whether or not to descend the stairs to the by now so familiar basement. When she had stormed into his home almost two years ago, she knew from the beginning that these blue eyes would be the death of her. Quite literally, if she was completely honest with herself, since right now, her heart was beating with a force she wasn't quite used to. In a weird way, she was feeling excited, scared and full of hope all at the same time. Which made it even harder to decide what to do next.

"Gonna stand there all night, Sloane?" Gibbs' voice sounded from below. Jack jumped ever so slightly, then she shook her head and headed for the stairs. She should have known. He always knew when she was there.

One hand on the banister, the other holding on tightly to the bottle of Bourbon, she made her way towards the basement.

Surprisingly enough, Gibbs wasn't working on his boat. Sure, he had changed out of his office clothes into a more comfortable pair of jeans and USMC sweater, but he just sat there on one of his three-legged chairs and cleaned up whatever he had been working on.

"Hey cowboy," Jack said softly and slowly walked towards him. "How's Phil?"

Gibbs chuckled. "Heading towards Fornell's place."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Really? I would have suspected him to be here with you. Doesn't happen every day that the woman you're dating is a murder suspect."

Blue eyes twinkled. "Was here. Sent him 'way."

"Oh, why would you do such a thing to poor old Phil?" Jack winced, but the way her lips twitched betrayed her.

Gibbs looked straight at her; blue eyes meeting brown. "Was hopin' you'd show up."

To say she was taken aback by his blunt honesty was an understatement. Trying to get her beating heart under control, she set her bag down on the floor and threw her beige coat over the boat. Then she put down the bottle of Bourbon down next to him on the table. When Gibbs' eyes noticed the red ribbon that was neatly tied around it, he smirked ever-so-slightly.

"Well, it's only fair to give you a little Valentine of my own, Cowboy," Jack said softly, and leaned against the boat next to him. Gibbs didn't say anything, just looked at her with a gentle smile on his face.

…

"_Happy Valentine's Day!" Jack's cheery voice sounded through the bullpen as she swiftly crossed the room to great the team. _

"_Hey Nick," she greeted him happily and hugged him with a heart shaped box of chocolate carefully balanced in her hand. "So good to see you back."_

"_Thank you," Torres smirked. "At least someone's happy," he said somewhat knowingly and glanced at Ellie, who returned his smile. _

_The young blonde then quickly looked at McGee, only to see the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement. _

"_Nice Valentine," Ellie continued, gladly accepted one of Jack's chocolates and looked at the older woman excitedly. "Who's it from?"_

"_I don't know," Jack answered, although a faint blush spread across her cheeks. "Someone left it on my desk this morning along with a dozen roses and no note."_

_Ellie couldn't quite help the smile that appeared on her face as she quickly stuck one of the sweets into Nick's mouth, who grinned at her with the boy-ish smile she adored so much. _

_McGee opened his mouth, but before he could say something, Ellie added, "Uh, you know what that means," and Jack turned to look at the young agent with a raised eyebrow. _

"_You've got a secret admirer." _

"_Hmm…" was all Jack answered, and even though she tried her best to ignore the blood that was rushing through her veins like wildfire, she felt her cheeks colouring in a bright crimson. So all she could do was look somewhere else but Ellie… and in the current situation, rolling her eyes at the ceiling was the best option. _

_Of course, Nick was not about to let her of the hook that easily. "Oh, come on," he teased, "it's no secret. You know who sent it." _

_Nick smirked even more and turned towards Ellie. _

_The blonde only grinned. _

_Jack held up her hand. "Stop. Don't even go there," she said vehemently, and pointed towards Ellie's and Nick's teasing smiles. "I told you, we do not have a thing."_

_Nick narrowed his eyes and shrugged. "If you so say so," he mumbled and sarcasm was dripping from every word he said. _

_Jack narrowed her dark brown eyes, shoved one more of the delicious chocolates in her mouth and gave him one of her best 'stop-talking-now-or-I-will-hurt-you' looks. _

_This time, it was Nick's turn to raise an eyebrow. He shrugged, and took a bite from the chocolate bar. Ellie just rolled her eyes. _

"_Plus," Jack added, hoping to kind of turn the situation for the better, "Gibbs is definitely not the type of guy to send a valentine." _

_Now it was McGee who sent her a look. "Yeah. _Sure…_," was all he said, not believing her at all. _

_Ellie was just about to add something, when a quickly ushered "Gear up, we got a dead body," was heard from behind. _

_Jack, who jumped at Gibbs' sudden appearance, turned around to see him gather his things. _

"_Torres, are you good?" he asked, while grabbing his own stuff from his desk. _

"_Good to go, Sir," was all Nick replied as the team headed towards the elevator in their usual rush. _

_When Gibbs walked straight past her, Jack just kept standing right where she was; carefully holding on to her Valentine's gift, when Gibbs walked past her, mumbling "Nice Valentine,"._

_Jack felt as if her heart had skipped beat. _

"_You want one?" she asked automatically. _

_To everyone's surprise, Gibbs stopped right in his track and turned around with his lips twitching. _

_He walked towards her, and she held up the heart-shaped box. _

_The team stopped dead in their tracks. Neither Ellie, nor Nick and McGee dared to move; all aware of how rare it was to witness such a clearly private 'Gibbs-Moment'. _

_While Gibbs was deciding on which one of the identical looking treats to get, Jack couldn't help but hold her breath. All she could do was hope that he didn't see how much her hands were shaking. _

_Then, when he had made his choice, he smiled at her and his blue eyes rested on her lips for a second longer than they usually did before he leant forward and kissed her on the cheek. _

_And just like this, Jack's heart stopped for a moment. Sure, he had given her a small peck before, but this felt different. _

_Ellie's eyes had also widened. Gibbs' lips had lingered on Jack's cheek only a bit longer than usual and he had brushed his own cheek against hers before he pulled away. _

_It was such a small gesture – for anyone else probably not even the slightest bit important – but Ellie had seen it, and for Gibbs – a man who rarely showed his affections, let alone in front of his team – the soft and gentle way he had touched her told them more than a thousand words could ever have. _

"_Thank you," Gibbs added, hints of a smirk still evident on his face, before he headed towards the elevator. _

"_Y-You're welcome," Jack stuttered, still too stunned to say or do anything else. _

_Brown eyes wide, she shoved another piece of chocolate in her mouth and watched the team head of to their next case. _

_Nevertheless, neither Nick nor Ellie could stop themselves from teasingly blowing air-kisses towards her – both their eyes dancing with mirth and joy. _

"_Oh, shut up," Jack mumbled, shook her head, half-heartedly glared at the two younger agents before her brown eyes travelled towards Gibbs, who turned around one more time. The smile he sent her was almost undetectable, but she caught it. It was the kind of smile he only saved for her. _

_Jack knew she didn't have to say anything, so she just returned the smile before the elevator doors closed. _

…

"Thought there was no note," Gibbs mumbled, head slightly cocked, and a smile playing around his lips.

Jack smirked, and moved to retrieve something from her bag. "Well, who needs a note when a girl gets a dozen delicate red roses carefully carved out of wood?"

She held up one of the roses and slowly traced the beautifully painted rose petals with her fingers.

"You like it?" he simply asked, and it kind of took her by surprise. They had danced around 'their thing' or whatever it was for so long, that she didn't expect him to be so straight forward.

Jack still played with the rose in her hand. "They're all so beautiful," she whispered, walked closer to him, picked up to more or less clean glasses and put them down next to the bottle of Bourbon she bought him.

She liked how they understood each other without words and she watched him with a small smile on her lips as he removed the ribbon from the bottle and poured the liquid into their cups. Wordlessly, he handed her one.

"For a moment I thought you preferred Ducky's chocolates," Gibbs mumbled, a small smirk on his face, before he clinked his glass to hers and took a sip.

Jack laughed happily. "And still you let Nick and Ellie believe they were from you? Thanks for that, Cowboy. I'm sure it made their day."

Gibbs chuckled. "Certainly made mine."

The blonde sipped on her drink. "You know, they already think we're having a '_thing'_. Now there's no chance they'll drop it anytime soon."

"So, are we?" Gibbs asked, set his drink down and got up so he was standing right in front of her – studying her features.

Jack blinked, confused. "Are we what?"

He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face and his piercing blue eyes stared right into her own brown ones.

When he slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer towards him, Jack couldn't help herself but place one of her own hands on his chest. Her heart was beating so fast under his touch that she was sure he could hear it.

"Are we a '_thing'_?" Gibbs whispered his question before he gently brushed one of her blonde curls back behind her ear and softly touched her cheek with the palm of his hand.


	2. a tale of red roses II

_Thank you so much for the lovely reviews!  
Here's the next little chapter! It takes place right after the episode 'Ephemera'.  
I hope you like it! *huggs*_

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"Gin Martini, two olives," Jack declared proudly and carefully carried the fancy drink over to the elderly lady

"My favourite!" Aunt Bertha exclaimed, "how did you know?"

Jack only smirked as she turned around and Gibbs' lips twitched ever-so-slightly when he watched her walking back around her desk. In gentlemanly-manner, he pulled back her chair and let his hand linger on the small of her back for a couple of seconds longer than usually. Jack leaned backwards, moved her arm and gave the hand that now rested upon her shoulder a gentle, but subtle squeeze. None – except maybe Ducky – noticed, for they were all fascinated by how the pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into place.

"I can see why you think Arthur took the coin. The family certainly did."

McGee, Torres, and Ellie were all so enhanced by the old lady's words, that they didn't notice the way Jack and Gibbs glanced at each other when she returned to her desk.

"And he didn't?" Nick asked curiously.

Bertha only rolled her eyes and sipped on her drink. "No, cutie. The Navy changed his life. He wouldn't have thrown that away.

"I knew it." Nick said, and Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "I said it. I've said it all along."

Ellie glanced at him and Nick only shrugged in return.

Aunt Bertha smiled knowingly. "It was Annie who stole the coin," she said and told them the story about how the two lovers sat in the car.

"That's why they started arguing," Ellie interrupted enthusiastically and Palmer, Kasie and Ducky watched her excitedly from their position at the door.

"Yes, and by the time Art came back, Annie had left," Bertha continued sadly, and even Gibbs looked at the old woman with new-found interest. "Or, I should say, was taken."

Jack's eyes filled with tears.

"So, Art kept the coin this whole time?" McGee asked.

Bertha shook her head again. "Oh, no, he gave it back to Annie the same night."

Nick and Ellie's heads shot up, confused. "Oh, so if he didn't steal it, and Annie didn't give it to him… how did Art still end up with it?"

Bertha held up the toothpick on which Jack had earlier stuck her olives. "Me," was all she said, and the triumphant smile she gave them was more than any further world could ever have told them.

…

"That was a very remarkable detail to remember," McGee pointed out once they were all seated comfortably on Gibbs' couch. Well, or at least as comfortable as possible considering that not only the whole team was there, but also Grace and Tobias, who had pretentiously forgotten that their monthly poker night got cancelled.

"What you mean, McGee?" Nick asked, stretched like a cat and in a very Torres-like manner sprawled his legs all over Ellie's lap, who only shook her head – a small smile playing around her lips – and mouthed a quiet '_seriously?'_.

"I dare say Timothy is talking about the olives, my dear Nicholas," Ducky explained with a small chuckle and sipped on his tea. "And, perhaps, his surprise to find out that our dear Jaqueline has – during the course of this case – let herself slip into the role of old Lady Bertha."

"Oh, really?" Grace chirped up from the other side of the room, where she was sharing one of the large armchairs with Kasie. "Interesting. And here I was… thinking that out of all these people, you would have imagined yourself as Annie's mother instead of…"

Jack, who had just entered the room with two beers in her hand – of which she handed one to Gibbs – only rolled her eyes before she sat down on a pillow on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. Besides Grace, only Ellie noticed Gibbs' slightly lingering touch on her hand when he had accepted the beverage from the blonde.

"But, wasn't Downing's wife dead?" Tobias asked, confused.

"Yeah," Palmer agreed, "That wouldn't make any sense."

Ducky, like the rest of 'Team Gibbs' chuckled. "Indeed, it would not, Dr. Palmer. Indeed, it would not."

Grace's dark eyes, however travelled curiously from Jack to Gibbs – who sat only inches away from the blonde on the edge of the couch – and back to the profiler again.

However, before she could voice her suspicions, the sound of the front door opening rang through the room.

"It's open," Gibbs grumbled, though a small smile was playing around his lips.

It didn't take long for the guest to stumble into the living room – of course not before vehemently shutting the door close – and Emily Fornell eyed the assembled crowed sternly. Her hands placed upon her hips and eyebrows raised.

"What did I miss?" the red-haired young woman asked suspiciously, "and why wasn't I invited. And why is there a woman's dress lying at the bottom of you stairs, Uncle Gibbs?"

Gibbs moved his head and glanced at Jack, whose cheeks immediately turned pink. However, before Emily – eyes wide with revelation and excitement – could say anything else, Grace got up and offere her a seat.

"Oh, don't worry, darling!" she re-assured the younger woman. "I was about to get myself a new glass of Bourbon anyway. I feel like I need something stronger than beer to stomach all these _new information_ I gathered today…"

Emily's smile widened, and even tough her curiosity resembled her late mothers, she knew when it was her place to shut her mouth. So instead of bombarding Gibbs with questions, she just rolled her eyes at him in a 'I-know-your-secret-but-I'm-happy-for-you' kind of way and sat down next to Kasie.

.

It was a lovely evening, Jack couldn't deny it. But she was equally happy when the living room was finally empty, and Grace and Emily helped a ruther drunk Fornell into his shoes and into their car.

"Drive safe," Gibbs mumbled, hugged Grace, gave Emily a soft kiss on the forehead and was about to kick Tobias' ass out of his home if it hadn't been for Jack, who gently stepped in and guided the former FBI agent out of the house.

"Finally," Gibbs mumbled once Jack was back inside. "Thought we might have to carry Tobias home…"

Jack laughed. "Oh, come on, like you were never drunk."

Gibbs rolled his blue eyes, closed the door behind the blonde woman and stepped even closer towards her.

"Sure I was," he mumbled, and cupped Jack's cheek with one hand. "Em wasn't that amused when she had to drive me home…"

"Oh, I'm sure she wasn't," Jack replied and leaned into his strong body. Immediately, Gibbs other hand found his way around her waist and he pulled her close.

"Hey, at least I paid her," Gibbs mumbled,"Well, or at least I gave her my wallet and she took what she thought was 'appropriate payment'."

The blonde chuckled and brushed her fingers through his grey hair. "She's a good kid. She clearly figured it out, but kept quiet about our 'thing'."

It was Gibbs' turn to chuckle. "Yeah," was all he said, before he bent down and kissed her passionately.

Jack closed her eyes, and pressed her body against Gibbs'; it felt so good, so natural… just like the first kiss they had shared a couple of days ago…

…

_When he slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer towards him, Jack couldn't help herself but place one of her own hands on his chest. Her heart was beating so fast under his touch that she was sure he could hear it. _

"_Are we a 'thing'?" Gibbs whispered his question before he gently brushed one of her blonde curls back behind her ear and softly touched her cheek with the palm of his hand. _

_Jack closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, enjoying the warmth of his hand against her skin. Then, she got on her toe-tips, brought one of her hands behind his neck and gently, almost shy, brushed her lips over his. _

_When she was about to pull away, Gibbs immediately tightened the grip he had on her hip, buried his other hand in her blonde hair and kissed her back with such a passion that told her more than any words could ever have. The desire, trust and love they had for each other and that they had played around for so long was finally surfacing and for a split second, Jack was sure her heart had stopped at some point during that kiss. _

…

Once they both had to break their kiss due to the lack of oxygen, Jack smiled brightly at the man in front of her.

"Are you happy?" she asked, and studied him with her deep brown eyes.

Gibbs didn't let go of her, but he sighed a little. "You talked to Bishop?"

Jack nodded. "Bourbon and a boat in a basement. It makes a woman wonder…"

Gibbs gently took her hand in his, and guided her towards the couch. Immediately, she pulled her legs up and curled her body against his. Her head on his lap, and his hand drawing circles on her back. "I don't feel lonely when you're around."

Jack turned ever-so-slightly to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "That's it?"

The senior field agent just shrugged. "Yeah. That's it."

Jack smiled when he leaned down to give her soft kiss. He felt him move and once he was lying right behind her, she quickly glanced at her red dress which she had worn the previous night… the one Emily spotted on the stairs.

With a smirk, she snuggled closer to Gibbs, and before she closed her eyes, she wondered how and when they'd tell the rest of 'Team Gibbs' about their 'thing' and praying that Emily and Grace would keep the gossip to themselves, Jack drifted off to sleep; wrapped tightly in Gibbs' arms.


End file.
